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In February of 2017, astronomers announced an exciting development in our exploration of worlds beyond the solar system: not only do 7 Earth-sized planets orbit a nearby star known as TRAPPIST-1, but 3 of them may be able to support liquid water! To celebrate this discovery, the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics and Discover t…

Research on structures in the interstellar medium by CITA professor Peter Martin and former CITA postdoc fellow Kevin Blagrave has been featured on AAS Nova, a website highlighting the most interesting recent results published in AAS journals.

CITA Professor Peter Martin has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada. The formal citation was “For his innovative research on interstellar matter and for establishing two world-renowned institutes of astronomy and astrophysics.”
Established in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System, and recognizes outstanding…

Today, we celebrate the anniversary of gravitational-wave astronomy. One year ago, on September 14, 2015, LIGO made the first direct detection of gravitational waves – tiny, rippling distortions in space and time – that were emitted by the tumultuous, dramatic collision of two black holes. Since then, LIGO has confirmed the detections of two binary black hole mergers (maybe even three!), and wit…

On December 26, 2015 at 03:38:53 UTC, the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) observed gravitational waves produced by the collision of two stellar-mass black holes. The black holes that emitted these waves are inferred to have masses of 14 and 8 solar masses, and the final black hole has a mass of 21 solar masses. This event, named GW151226,…

CITA Director Norman Murray is part of a team led by Yashar Hezaveh that recently analyzed and published data that could help solve the mystery of dark matter, which comprises roughly a quarter of the mass-energy in our universe.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation [www.humboldt-foundation.de] grants about 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, to internationally renowned academics from abroad in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research to date and their exceptional promise for the future. Award winners are invited to to spend…

The gravitational waves detected on September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC from the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is first observation of a binary black hole merger. The initial black holes are found to have individual masses of 29 and 36 solar masses and merged to form a single black hole with a mass of 62 solar masses. The merger occurred at a…